Conference at Kent on "daimonic imagination"
Posted by: "John W. Morehead"
johnwmorehead@msn.com johnwmorehead
Date: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:29 am ((PDT))
An upcoming conference that might be of interest to some. It would be fascinating to see a presentation on similar uncanny experiences in the Judeo-Christian tradition, particularly among the prophets in the Old Testament of the ancient near east as best understood as coming out of a similar phenomenology, and in regards to divination that is not always portrayed in the negative in the Old Testament, just to mix things up.
http://www.kent.ac.uk/secl/researchcentres/myth/events/daimonic/cfp.htmlDaimonic Imagination:
Uncanny Intelligence
6th-7th May 2011
University of Kent, Canterbury
CALL FOR PAPERS
In this inter-disciplinary conference we will be addressing the question of inspired creativity. In many traditions the fount of creative vision and the source of divinatory insight is located in an intelligent ‘other’, whether this is termed god, angel, spirit, muse or daimon, or whether it is seen as an aspect of the human imagination and the activation of the ‘unconscious’ in a Jungian sense.
From the artistic genius to the tarot reader, the sense of communication with another order of reality is commonly attested. Such communication may take the form of a flash of intuitive insight, psychic or clairvoyant ability, or spiritual possession. In art and literature many forms have been given to the daimonic intelligence, from angels to aliens, and in the realm of new age practices encounters with spiritual beings are facilitated through an increasing variety of methods including shamanism, hypnotherapy, mediumship, psychedelics, channelling and spirit materialisation. Theories of divinatory practices such as astrology, tarot or I Ching often assume a spirit or god-like intelligence at work in symbolic interpretation, and guardian angels abound in self-help literature.
This conference is not concerned with ‘proving’ or ‘disproving’ the existence of such beings. Rather, we would invite papers that address the theme of how the ‘numinous other’
is conveyed and depicted, how its voice is heard, how it informs, and has always informed, human experience. We would like to engage the imagination and open up discussion, particularly around the subject of how researchers might best approach the study of such marginalised and culturally anomalous visions and experiences, and what their value might be.
The conference will be fully
interdisciplinary, perspectives may include those from art, literature, divination, cultural studies, philosophy, theology and RS, spirituality, anthropology, classics, history, psychology, film studies and sociology. Presentations should be 30 minutes in length, to be followed by 15 minutes discussion.
Suggested themes:
The daimonic in art, literature, music, dreams, divination, psychotherapyPhilosophical, metaphysical, religious and transpersonal approaches to the daimonicSpirit visions and mediumshipSpirits in shamanic and indigenous traditionsJung and the unconsciousParanormal encounters The ‘otherworld’ and its inhabitantsPsychedelic encounters
Please send a title and abstract to:
William Rowlandson (
w.rowlandson@kent.ac.uk [1]) and Angela Voss (
a.voss@kent.ac.uk [2])
co-directors of the Centre for the Study of Myth at the University of Kent
by Monday 28th February 2011
John W. Morehead
Director
Western Institute for Intercultural Studies
www.wiics.org
